Dunbarton will soon honor Scipio Page, a Black veteran who served in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, with a Heritage Trail marker, recognizing a man whose contributions have remained largely untold for centuries.

Scipio Page arrived in Dunbarton, then known as Starkstown, in the 1700s as the enslaved man of Captain Caleb Page, taking his last name. Over time, he went on to lead a Black militia spanning four towns.

His story was brought to light by Donna Dunn, chair of the Dunbarton Historical Awareness Committee, whose efforts have uncovered a significant yet overlooked chapter of local history.

Dunn’s search began with a simple but powerful question. A direct descendant of Molly Stark, daughter of Captain Page, asked whether Scipio Page, like other veterans, received a flag on Memorial Day.

“That started an odyssey of finding the information,” Dunn said about discovering who Scipio Page was. “We finally found the document that was hiding in plain sight in the town vault that had been forgotten since.”

It was a store ledger from Captain Stark’s grandson and other papers that revealed Scipio Page’s military service and leadership role in the militia.

In the far northeast corner of Page’s Cemetery, the committee uncovered a large gravestone marking Scipio Page’s final resting place, alongside smaller stones for his wife and three children. He has since got his flag on Memorial Day.

On Saturday, a Heritage Trail marker will be unveiled at Page’s Cemetery at 10 a.m. to commemorate his service and contributions.

“Two hundred seventy years after he earned it, he’s going to have a Heritage Trail marker,” said Dunn. “He’s finally going to get his day.”

Though it wasn’t uncommon for enslaved people to be granted land, ownership rights typically remained with the landowners.

But Scipio Pages was granted 13 acres with the rights to the land.

“He must have been held in fairly high regard,” said Dunn.

Scipio Page is believed to have died in 1815, still in service to the Page family, at around 78 years old.